Man, 27, Gets Decades in Prison After Faking Being 17

Zachary Scheich sentenced to 85 to 120 years after enrolling in high schools, sexually assaulting girls
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 16, 2024 7:39 AM CDT
Man, 27, Gets Decades in Prison After Faking Being 17
Zachary Scheich.   (Lincoln Police Department via WFLA)

For about 10 weeks in late 2022 and early 2023, 17-year-old Zak (also spelled Zach) Hess attended two different high schools in Lincoln, Nebraska, his mother dutifully meeting with school counselors to help him transition. However, authorities now say that "boy" was really a man in his mid-20s named Zachary Scheich, his "mother" was a 22-year-old woman, and Scheich used his cover to meet and then sexually assault underage girls, leading to a hefty prison sentence for Scheich last week, per WFLA.

  • The ruse: Scheich first enrolled as a transfer student at Lincoln Northwest High School in the fall of 2022, then popped up at Lincoln Southeast High School—where he'd graduated in 2015—in the spring, reports the Washington Post. He was 26 at the time, but at just 5 feet 4 inches tall and 120 pounds, he was able to blend in with the actual high schoolers, per the Kansas City Star. A district official for Lincoln Public Schools said at a 2023 presser that Scheich handed over a fake birth certificate, academic transcript, and immunization records at the time.

  • The crimes: Once embedded in the schools, Scheich soon started communicating with girls in his classes, via text and online, coaxing some of them to send him sexually explicit photos after he sent them money and sexually assaulting some of them, per court records. At least a dozen girls, some as young as 13, were reportedly his victims. "He targeted, groomed, and lured them via social media," says Deputy County Attorney Amber Scholte, per WFLA. "He did so under the guise of being their peer, their friend, and, in some cases, their boyfriend. And he did so for his own sexual purpose and gratification."
  • Sentencing: On Wednesday, Scheich was sentenced to 85 to 120 years in prison on charges of sexual assault, child enticement with electronic communication, and generating sexually explicit images of children, after pleading no contest in July. He'll be eligible for parole in 40 years. Angela Navarro, now 23, the woman accused of impersonating Hess/Scheich's mother, has pleaded not guilty to a criminal impersonation charge.
(More sex crime stories.)

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